On December 9, 2024, through publication in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of State announced a major shift in the policy governing the Exchange Visitor Skills List. This shift removes the two-year home residency...more
The past year has brought sweeping changes to the world of work. Federal agencies finalized rules on minimum wage and overtime exemptions, union representation elections, pregnancy accommodations, OSHA inspections, and...more
As of July 1, 2024, the Foreign Labor Certification (FLC) Data Center website (FLCDataCenter.com) will be discontinued and will not be available for providing prevailing wage data for occupations. Prevailing wage information...more
Foreign workers fill a critical need in the U.S. labor market, particularly in the professional and technological fields such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To fill this need, U.S. employers...more
4/29/2024
/ Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
STEM ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its new immigration-related fines/penalties, effective January 15, 2024. Immigration-related violations before the DOL involve these visas: H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B. These increases...more
1/24/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 ,
Fines ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2A ,
H-2B ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Wage and Hour
The current administration and multiple members of Congress seek to grant protections to H-2B non-agricultural temporary workers who are employed in the United States to fill temporary labor shortages in the U.S. market....more
11/21/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exploitation ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-2B ,
Immigrants ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Physical Abuse ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Vulnerable Victims
In anticipation of a possible 2023 government shutdown this weekend, many employers are wondering how a shuttering of U.S. government agencies for budgetary reasons could impact or delay their U.S. immigration processing,...more
10/2/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed an employer’s duty to comply with the attestations made under the Labor Condition Application (LCA) to pay its foreign national employee during the period of...more
In April 2023, the long-anticipated new and modernized PERM Form 9089 was introduced to the public by the U.S. Department of Labor, Foreign Labor Certification (FLC) unit. The PERM process permits an employer to hire a...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that it is clarifying the validity period of off-campus employment authorization for international students pursuant to the Special Student Relief (SSR)...more
Section 8 U.S.C. 1157 of the U.S. Code grants employment authorization for eligible individuals awarded refugee status, stating in part that these individuals “ … shall be eligible for resettlement assistance, entitlement...more
On May 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a Temporary Final Rule (TFR) automatically extending the work authorizations for certain renewal applicants listed on the USCIS website. Normally, the DHS...more
Foreign students studying towards a degree program in the U.S. and maintaining a valid F-1 status can apply their theoretical knowledge and gain invaluable experience in their respective fields/major of study through training...more